Remembering You
by Ayadin
Summary: He’d faced demons, humans, and monsters of all kind. He’d protected her through it all, but he couldn’t protect her this time. InuxKag


**Title: Remembering You **

**Summary: He'd faced demons, humans, and monsters of all kind. He'd protected her through it all, but he couldn't protect her this time. **

It took all he had not to cry as he staggered into the room. The lights were low, almost too low for his old eyes to see well, but he could still see her clearly. She was sitting in the chair he'd bought her when they were first married, almost 70 years ago. Her fragile, wrinkled hands were folded neatly in her lap. Her eyes were cast out the window, staring at the sidewalk in the back yard. The look on her face suggested that she were waiting for something, or someone, to walk up it right now and take her away.

Slowly, he made his way over to where she sat and took a seat in the matching chair beside hers. The tray of food in his hands shook uncontrollably before he sat it down. It was becoming harder each day to hold on to anything, including his wife. Even now, when she was right beside him, her mind was somewhere he could never reach. Some part of him wanted to be angry at her for breaking her promise to stay by his side forever, but he knew he couldn't. It wasn't like it was her fault she was gone.

"Kagome, I have some ramen for us," he spoke in a voice he barely recognized. It had become so aged and rough that he hated hearing it. "Baby?" he asked when she didn't reply. Tears prickled the back of his eyes when he looked at the frail, elderly woman beside him.

In his heart, he still saw her as the young woman he'd fallen in love with. She was still the feisty little school girl who fell down the well. She was still the fifteen year old girl who befriended an egotistical, vulgar half demon without a second thought. She was the woman who'd freed him from not only the sacred tree, but from the prison of his own heart. She'd taught him how to love again, to forge unforgettable friendships, and healed his heart in the process. When she had become the old woman that sits beside him now, he would never know. To him, she would always remain the young woman he'd married nearly 70 years earlier.

"Kagome, baby will you please eat something for me?" he begged, holding ramen up to her face. His shaky hands caused him to drop the chopsticks and ramen on her lap. "Damn, baby I'm sorry." He grabbed a rag and tried wiping off the mess, but only managed to smear it a little. He looked up at her with violet eyes, staring deep into her empty ones. Tears that refused to be held back seeped out one by one from the corners of his violet orbs.

"You won't eat will you?" he asked. She kept her eyes trained on the window. He laid his head down on her lap, his once again silver hair spread out across her legs. He just laid there and cried.

_Why? _He silently asked himself as his whole body began to convulse with tears. An image of his past caught up with him, sending another shockwave of pain through his heart. It was the second worse day of his life; the day Kagome went to the doctor.

_Flashback_

"Mr. Fujita," a kind nurse called for him. The name had grown on him over the years, but he had to admit that it was still strange for people to call him that.

He stood up to follow the young nurse who kept sending him sympathetic looks when he wasn't looking. He'd been given enough when he was still a half demon to know that was what the woman was doing. Of course, this didn't quell the uneasiness he was beginning to feel.

"Inuyasha! It's nice to see you again," the aging doctor flashed a smile at his father in law. Inuyasha returned it with a hesitant one of his own and struggled over to the chair by the bed.

"Where's Kagome?" he asked impatiently. His son in law snickered and pulled a chart from the table beside him.

"When it comes to her, you don't waste any time do you?"

"I've wasted enough in my life when it comes to my Baby," he smiled a little. "I don't want to waste another minute."

The doctor smiled. He knew very well the story of his in-laws. He'd always wanted the kind of love they shared, no matter what pain came with it. Sighing slightly, he sat down in the chair opposite Inuyasha. What he was about to tell the man that had become a father to him could possible destroy him.

"Where is my wife Daisuke?" Inuyasha pressed again. Daisuke leaned forward and began rubbing his temples with his finger tips. He glasses rose with the movement before settling back down.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" he finally asked. He looked up to see his father in law's infamous glare. His hands automatically flew up in defense. "I mean we might've caught it sooner!"

"Wha…" the elderly man asked. He could feel the wrinkles in his face rearrange into what was supposed to be shock, but all Daisuke saw was fear.

"Kagome has Alzheimer's Disease," Daisuke spoke after a while. "I suppose it wouldn't have done any good to bring her earlier. It's not like we can run a test and detect it." He ran a hand through his dark hair, sparing another glance at the man across from him.

"That's why she hasn't been remembering anything, isn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Daisuke nodded anyway. Inuyasha looked out the window into the city. For a long time all he could do was stare out the window and think. He wasn't sure what Alzheimer's was, but he'd be damned if he let it get the best of Kagome. Finally, he spoke up. "How do we beat it?"

Despite expecting that to come out of his mouth, he still cringed at hearing it. How was he supposed to tell a man who believed that he could kill anything that came at his wife that he wouldn't be able to protect her?

"Daisuke, I said 'How do we beat it!'" Inuyasha growled. His son in law rose up and reached for his hand. Inuyasha let him take it, but despite the comforting act he still felt like he was about to be hit by a bus. And he didn't have his half demon powers anymore.

"You can't," the doctor whispered. "There is no cure. The best you can do is stay by her side and help her out. I'll get you a list of things that need to be done."

"Okay," the man blinked back tears. Daisuke stood up to get the list when Inuyasha's voice caught him. "This is the second worse day of my life."

"Hmm," Daisuke turned to see the man struggling not to cry. "What would be the worst?"

Inuyasha chuckled darkly and bent his head. "I'm reserving that for when Kagome's taken away from me."

_Present_

He spent a good while just crying into Kagome's lap. He hated that day. It was the day he was told he wouldn't be able to save his wife, that he wouldn't be able to protect her. He turned his head and let his cheek rest on her legs.

"I'm useless baby," he whispered. "I promised to protect you, but I couldn't even do that." Tears he didn't think he had left began to pour out of his eyes. A craggy hand reached up and touched his head. What sounded like a disappointed sigh came from above him. Looking up, he stared at his stirring wife.

"He's not coming back for me," she whispered. Inuyasha blinked and leaned forward.

"What's that?" He so badly wanted to call her baby, but the doctor's advised him not to when she was awake. They told him not too long ago that she had forgotten him completely. A piece of his heart died when they said it.

"Oh, who are you?" she asked in an old, but still Kagome like voice. His eyes drooped, and he fell back to his knees.

"Just a friend, baby," he sighed. _Screw the doctors,_ he thought bitterly. He heard a slight giggle from the woman in front of him. _I've really missed that. _

"You remind me of someone," she gave him a broken little smile. This perked his interest, so he leaned up and grabbed her hands. She looked at them longingly, but still looked hurt.

"Who do I remind you of?" he pressed. She lifted an old hand to wipe away a tear that had fallen from her eye.

"I'm not sure," she sounded upset. Her face wrinkled even more as she tried hard to remember who he was. "But I know that I love him."

A lone tear slipped from the corner of his eye. _She still remembers,_ hope returned to him as he thought this. She laughed a little, causing shivers of pleasure to strike up and down Inuyasha's spine. She hadn't laughed in so long; he was beginning to think she was already dead.

"He had hair like yours," she fingered the somewhat rough texture of Inuyasha's hair. He tried to speak, but realized his voice had left him some time ago. "Only, it was a little longer and thicker." She giggled again, and Inuyasha nearly died of happiness. _She's coming back! She's really coming back to me!_ He thought with pure joy.

"But he didn't have your eyes," she ran a twisted, long finger around his right eye. "And his ears were on top of his head, like dog's ears." His heart clenched. _She remembers the old me, not who I am now. _

A few tears fell from her eyes as she ran her fingers over her husband's face. She didn't know who he was, but he was kind. He seemed so much like the man she fell in love with that she just felt she could trust him. Inuyasha didn't mind it either. He let her fingers trace the outline of his face, savoring her touch. He remembered nights they had spent doing the same, but he knew it was another life time ago. A lifetime he would never be able to hold again.

"Do you know him?" she finally asked. He looked up into her eyes. They looked so innocent, so pure, almost like a child's eyes. In truth, that was pretty much what she had become, a child. He couldn't lie to a child.

"Yes," he croaked out. Rubbing his throat a little, he tried again. "I knew him very well."

"Why didn't he come back for me?" her voice quavered. The tears that were about to break free were evident in her voice. Inuyasha didn't want her to cry, so he sacrificed one last thing for her sake: his heart.

"He did come back for you," he whispered. She gasped a little. "He came back for you, and you married him."

"No kidding?" she asked. Inuyasha nodded and brought her hand up to her face. He rubbed a clawless finger over her wedding band, discreetly slipping his off before doing so.

"No kidding," he echoed. Her face lit up a little.

"Where is he now? If he came back for me, why isn't he with me?" she pressed. More tears that Inuyasha believed he had all cried out threatened to break the barrier of his eyes. He furtively wiped them away and turned a violet gaze back on Kagome.

"He couldn't stay. He wanted to, but fate had other ideas." His old voice was barely above a whisper, but he conveyed the pain he was feeling inside. _I never thought that I'd lose her to myself…_ he wiped more tears away before continuing. "He passed on a long time ago." It wasn't a total lie. The Inuyasha she was remembering did die when he became human.

"Oh," she bent her head down. All he wanted to do right then was comfort her; bring her into his arms and never let her ago. "Were you close? Friends I mean." She asked again. He thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, we were like brothers. Some people even said we could've been the same person," he chuckled a bit. His heart was slowly breaking apart. He couldn't fight this demon away, and he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. He was petrified the shock would kill her.

"Inuyasha," she whispered after a long time. He looked up into her eyes, small hope springing up in his. "You _are_ him aren't you?"

"Yes," he whispered. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. It took everything in his power not to jump up and cradle her in his arms.

"You're so different though." She tilted her head, making her look even more like the young woman he'd fallen in love with.

"I'm human," he whispered, fearing that if he were to speak any louder he'd awake to find it was all a dream. She giggled at him.

"We all are silly," she giggled again. Inuyasha sighed. It seemed as if she couldn't put her finger on things, could really remember like he wished she could. Her face went sad as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head. His voice was cracking with old age, and annoying him at that. "You didn't do anything wrong." He gave her a weak smile.

"Will you do me a favor, Inuyasha?" she asked. Just for remembering his name, he would've given her the world.

"Anything for you baby," he kissed her hand. A blush spread across her face. She slowly reached to sit up, and with the help of Inuyasha she did.

Cautiously, they made their way over to the couch together. He plopped down, his old bones not able to handle much more of that. She did the same, and curled up beside him. They sat that way for what seemed like an eternity to them. Inuyasha hugged her close to him, afraid that he may wake up at any moment and realize it never happened, that this progress never happened.

"Inuyasha," Kagome stirred a little. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. It may not be the one he remembers, but it's still the woman he loves. "About that favor."

"Oh, I forgot baby," he whispered, mentally cursing himself. "What did you want?"

"Tell me a story," she said to his chest. Inuyasha blinked a few times. "Tell me the one about the school girl who traveled back to the past and fell in love with a half demon."

Inuyasha nearly broke down holding her. He nodded and rubbed a hand over her silver hair. _Matches mine now,_ he half laughed. "Okay baby," he whispered again. "Once upon a time, there was a school girl who fell down an old well on her 15th birthday…"

Morning came like a flash, and the shrine had never looked more beautiful. The sun shone in just the right angles, and blossoms from the sacred tree danced across the stone walk way. The nurse who usually helped the old couple around during the day was fumbling with her keys at the door. A smile donned her face as she finally opened it up.

"Good morning Mr. Fujita!" she called out around the empty house. "How is Mrs. Fujita doing today?" She smiled as she walked into the living room to deposit her bags. Very quickly, the smile disappeared and was replaced with one of fear.

"Mr. Fujita?" she asked cautiously. Realizing what had happened, she ran as fast as she could from the room and called the hospital.

On the couch in the living room, a couple sat holding each other tightly. While their bodies may have been there, their spirits were long gone. They were finally together again, finally at peace.


End file.
